He Survived

On Monday we learned something that will not only change Blizzard video games, but is my belief it will be gaming as a whole. Chris Metzen is retiring. He isn't jumping ship to another company or anything like that at the age of 42 he is calling it quits. He wants to enjoy his time with his family something he has earned the right to do. It doesn't mean us gamers cannot be sad for it. So for this week's list I decided to put together my favourite Chris Metzen moments.

5. Thrall's opening Words

Warcraft III was an amazing game. Not just because it mixed up the way the genre was played, but because it had a story for us to remember. A story that formed the basis for World of Warcraft as we know today. Thrall's words spoken by Metzen were what started it all.

4. Overwatch Reveal

I have never seen any game developer be so excited for the reveal of a game. They enthusiasm and the pride in his voice was something that I wasn't expecting nor accustomed to. It really was something to see and that was before we even got the cinematic.

3. Red Shirt Guy Returns

So the previous year the infamous "red shirt guy" you could say slightly embarrassed Chris Metzen with his questions about Falstad. The following year before he got any questions out Chris Metzen walked the audience to hug the guy for being such a super fan.

2. Geek Is

During the Blizzcon in 2010 Chris Metzen made a speech that will go down in the history of Gaming Culture. He showed pride in his past, present, and future and how it all unfolded. Let everyone in the audience and those at home know that there are much others like you and you all showed be proud of who and what you are.

1. Red Shirt Guy Owns Him

I wasn't sure this was going to be number one, but it had to be. We all know what happened and we all will forever know what happened. The moment itself is immortalized within the game with the "Ironforge Fact Checker" and the words "isn't Falstad dead?" are ones that will be forever be etched in our memories.

There you have it this week's list. I know all of you have plenty of moments to be remembered involving Chris Metzen. Share them and be sure to let him know everything he has brought to the gaming world as a whole.

Swear To Me

Wednesday, which means list time. Now I was actually thinking long and hard about what to do my list on this week. When I realized I have never done on a list on the best story in a game. Now a great story can make a great game. Also a game with bad gameplay can also have a great story. So keep that in mind when going through the list.

5. Warcraft III

The rise and fall of Arthas along with the other stories introducing us to the Stormrage brothers and so on and so forth. This was an example of great storytelling and one I think everyone who knows anything about it makes it to film one day.

4. Red Dead Redemption

So criminal turned good guy then gives his life to defend his family when he is betrayed by the very people he was working with to make things right. Now doesn't that sound great.

3. The Walking Dead

Clementine and Lee pulled on our heart strings again and again throughout this episodic game that is not only a great story, but one of the best games I have ever played. And that ending....

2. Silent Hill 2

So a story that starts out with a simple letter that gets darker and darker and more and more shocking. It was really hard not to pick this for one, but I guess you will understand when you see what one is.

1. The Last of Us

So surprised? The best game ever made in my mind also has the best story. It is probably one of the very reasons I do consider it the best game ever made. Can't wait for the sequel.

There you have it this week's list. Agree or Disagree as always let me know in one way or another.

The Hunt Begins

Here we are in the middle of the week and time for a list. When thinking about this list I started to look to one of my favourite gaming companies Blizzard Entertainment. Now they have provided me with plenty of entertainment over the years and just recently celebrated there 25th anniversary. Pretty intense stuff. So I though today was the day I would give my favourite Blizzard moments from the past 25 years of playing their games.

5. Arcturus Mengsk Inauguration Speech 

At the end of the Terran Campaign in Starcraft 1 we heard this speech. It is still one of my favourite from any game anywhere even if I knew Arcturus Mengsk was a bad guy. The speech itself fit with everything and I still listen to it over and over again.

4. Arthas Succeeds His Father

Picking a Warcraft moment was hard, but I think this would have to be it. There has been many great cinematics, but this was all about the change of one of the greatest Lore characters any game has ever witnessed. Even today this moment gives me chills.

3. Zeratul's Death

This moment jumps up the list because it makes me remember all those times I played every single Starcraft game. Zeratul to me has been the definition of Starcraft and always the character I would explain when trying to get people into the game and its story.

2. Error 37

So Diablo III was one of the most anticipated games ever to be released. It also was planned to be released everywhere in the world at the exact same time. It didn't go as planned. The servers were not ready for the world. Now as much as this was slightly disappointing it was also a night I will never forget.

1. November 23 2004

This was the day I stepped into Azeroth for the first time. Gauss was created and started his journeys throughout Mulgore. It was really surreal being in the world that I had spent so many times in with the previous Warcraft games. Really was something special.

There you have it this week's list. What are your favourite moments from Blizzard games in the last 25 years? As always let me know in one way or another.

Ask Gauss

Sunday! Yes the weekend is nearing a end and you really haven't done anything worth while. You should feel bad and I am not going to sugar coat it. What I can do though is answer some of the questions sent in for the week and you can read the responses and you may feel better about everything. So here goes

Have you seen the amazing Starcraft II arcade game of Warcraft III?

Why yes I saw the showcase on MMO-Champion the other day. For those who haven't.



It looks great and really brings back some memories of gaming times past. I will have to play it when it is finally completed. Warcraft III prior to Starcraft II was a game that could blend a complex and challenging RTS game with one which had a story that made you want to play the game in more than a competitive manor. So it is always good times.

Do you think it is odd there is no Starcraft Warrior in Heroes of the Storm?

If you didn't notice there is also no Diablo support Hero. I do think they will be dealing with this soon enough as we tend to forget the game itself is still in the Beta phase and not even Open Beta. As for who that could be that is anyone's guess, but my feeling is we will see Fenix as the Starcraft Warrrior and maybe Auriel as the Diablo Support Hero.

Did you have a good Pi Day?

Course I did and I hope everyone else did!

There they are the questions all answered for the week. Hopefully that made some of you feel better about wasting your weekend thus far. If not then my apologies

What You Remember, That Is The Illusion

Here we are smack dab in the middle of the week unsure of not only what has already happened but also unsure of what is to come. Truthfully though if we knew would it really be that interesting? Looking back on the lists I have done I was quite surprised at what lists I have done. I know I always try to put them into contest, but really why have I never done a best villain or best hero? Then came the question which to do first? Everyone loves a villain so why not. So here are the 5 best Villains in gaming according to me

5. Kefka - Final Fantasy VI

He may not have super powers or any truly special abilities but he is probably the best psychopath ever in the hostory of gaming. I get people who say he is a somewhat joker rip off, but really he is a better Joker then Joker could ever hope to be.

4. Ganondorf - Legend of Zelda Series

There may be countless Links who take up the sword, but there will ever only be one Ganondorf. I am not ever the biggest Zelda fan and I know the impact of such a character to gaming. He is the definition of the classic villain type and pulls it off even in the current gaming world.

3. The Queen of Blades - Starcraft, Starcraft Brood War, Starcraft II

Notice how I didn't include Heart of the Swarm. It is for the very fact that she isn't the same person who murdered countless people in the pursuit of vengeance and destruction. One could say she is one of the only villains to truly win, as we saw at the end of Brood War. She was the Villain you were terrified of and also the one which you just want to see more of.

2. Arthas Menethil - Warcraft III, The Frozen Throne, Wrath of the Lich King

There truly are not many heroes who have fallen as far as Arthas has. He was supposed to be the protector of the light, but was the one who almost destroyed everything. He was calculated and diabolical. He also would have one if it wasn't for the precious Light, he once protected, getting its revenge. 

1. Sephiroth  - Final Fantasy VII

A great villain is one whose name only needs to be spoken and everyone nods their heads. Few villains have the power to be recognized from people who have not even played the game they came from. If there was a picture of someone beside villain in the dictionary it would be him.

There you have it this week's list all wrapped up for everyone to begin complaining about. This is actually one list I actually thought about making larger just so many I had to leave off, and doesn't feel right to do so. So go ahead let me know which you would have put on.

No Old Friend, You Have Freed Us All

So here we are in the middle of the week where I was just sitting around and thinking. I know can be a dangerous thing to do at times. I wasn't really thinking about this  week's list, but then it did come to me making a decision about it. I was thinking about how cinematics have become just an important part of the gaming scene. It used to be it was all about the credits and what you would see before the final "The End" showed up. Now we don't just have cinematics at the end of games they are all throughout. So with that I thought about what are my favourite cinematics of all time? Are they ones which served for great story telling? Ones which just had the epic feel? Or Ones that just made you want to play the game? Well let's find out shall we?

5. Letter To Claudia


One of the best intros to a game you will ever find showcasing the skills of one of the best characters ever in gaming history. This cinematic shows what it truly means to be an Assassin and really makes you appreciate what you did in previous games to get to this point, this revelation.

4. You Cannot Judge Me


Tyrael is one of the most beloved characters from the Diablo franchise and seeing him as a mortal is extremely weird and feels off once you find out it is him. This cinematic really is the definition of epic and has the line no one will ever forget even if they forget everything else about the game itself.

3. En Taro Tassadar


There are few cinematics which give you "dem feels", but this is certainly one of them. I have not known anyone who knows even the most minuscule knowledge of Starcraft who doesn't love Tassadar. There are characters in games who would do anything for their people, but would they give the ultimate sacrifice for everyone because they knew it could only be them.

2. Final Fantasy VIII Intro


Without a doubt the greatest into to any game, and I challenge any game to top this. This game cinematic is one that introduced a countless gamers to the world of RPGs. Every time I watch it I want to start of a game of Final Fantasy VIII. Even though I know everything about it. It still has that power, which really is remarkable 

1. Grom Kills Mannoroth



You see Tassadar was basically a God amongst mortals. He could do anything and chose to sacrifice himself because he knew it was the only way. Grom was nothing like that. He was the Orc who started the demon curse, which lead to enumerable horrifying acts. Some would save he doomed the Orcs to the life they found themselves in. This is not only the moment of his redemption it is the moment which allowed the Horde to exist. Lok'tar Ogar Grommash Hellscream.

There you have it my favourite Cinematics. There were so many to choose from and realyl I feel bad about leaving some off the list, but 5 means 5. Let me know what you all think, which would you have included?

Pre Death Release

So here we are once again on a wonderful Wednesday morning here to see what I will be listing today. Ya about that that I need a name for Wednesday's list and the best I could come up with is Wist Wednesday. So if you have an idea let me know and of course I will give you credit for it. About this week's list though I was thinking about what some of our favourite or not so favourite characters went on and on about before they died. So yes they are speeches or letters or rants, but they are just pre-death release for them. So hence the name. So here is my top 5

5. Daelin Proudmoore - Warcraft III

"Can your blood atone for genocide, orc? Your Horde killed countless innocents with its rampage across Stormwind and Lordaeron. Do you really think you can just sweep all that away and cast aside your guilt so easily? No, your kind will never change, and I will never stop fighting you." 

Blizzard is always great at writing speeches. Daelin death really mark the end of everything which the second war was. This gave a chance for the orcs to be their own people. This speech obviously was foreshadowing what Rexxar was about to do, but it was what it represented to the lore.

4. Caius Ballad - Final Fantasy XIII-2

"Noel, you told me Yeul is reborn because of me. Then I have to die. We must free Yeul. Kill me you are the only one who can end this eternal torment. Lightning is dead I killed her with my own hands. Will you allow me to go unpunished. In  Valhalla time does not flow as it should. Long before our battle here, I already faced her. Now she sleeps, never to wake. Things that shall happen in your future have already been decided in my own past. I know how it begins and ends. Noel born at the end of days you understand the true value of life. But know this you will kill me Noel. Impressive. He can change must choose between who dies and who lives you must bare the burden of the eternal paradox!"

As far as Epic goes it doesn't get much better than this. Not only that Caius got exactly what he wanted in the end. When the bad guy wins it is epic in the first place, but when the bad guy wins by getting someone to kill him then that is just on a whole new level.

3. Zack Fair - Crisis Core

"For the both of us. That's right you're gonna..you're gonna. Live. You will be my living legacy. My honor...my dreams. They are yours now."

Maybe a death which caused which created argueably the greatest hero video games has ever seen. The magnitude of that had in itself had to ensure this moment was something special, adn they didn't even come close to doing that.

2. Kael'Thas Sunstrider - World of Warcraft

Don't look so smug! I know what you're thinking, but Tempest Keep was merely a set back. Did you honestly believe I would trust the future to some blind, half-night elf mongrel? Hahahaha... Oh no, no, no, he was merely an instrument, a stepping stone to a much larger plan! It has all led to this...and this time, you will not interfere! My demise accomplishes nothing! The master will have you! You will drown in your own blood! The world shall burn! Aaaghh!

Kael was a chartacter which fell so far. He is someone who everyone loved or hated. He is iconic in the Warcraft. His death was a moment you always remember the first time it happened. There is no way this list or any like it could exist without having Kael on it.

1. Ezio Auditore 



When I was a young man, I had liberty, but I did not see it...I had time, but I did not know it...and I had love, but I did not feel it. Many decades would pass before I understood the meaning of all three...And now, in the twilight of my life, this understanding has passed into contentment. Love, liberty, and time - once so disposable are the fuels that drive me forward, and love was especially mia caro...For you, our children, our brothers and sisters, and for the vast and wonderful world that gave us life and keeps us guessing. Endless affection, mia Sophia.

Forever yours,
Ezio Auditore

You knew he had to die, but not like that and then the letter well it came close to the impact Christina's death did. Ezio one of the best characters ever still managed to have a death as an old man which was owed to him.

There you have it this week's list. As always tell me what you think I read them all if I agree with it or not.